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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. cell — a phone
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. bear — the animal
  7. capital — money
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. bear — the animal
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. mug — a cup
  12. cell — in biology
  13. spring — a coil
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. spring — the season
  18. mug — to rob
  19. capital — a city
  20. mug — a face
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. spring — of water

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com